Roses and Hydrangeas
by AquaTurquoise
Summary: Roses-a symbol of love and beauty. Hydrangeas-a symbol of gratefulness and heartfelt emotions. Two sisters, two flowers, one holiday.


Roses and Hydrangeas

Summary: Roses-a symbol of love and beauty. Hydrangeas-a symbol of gratefulness and heartfelt emotions. Two sisters, two flowers, one holiday.

Disclaimer: I own _nothing_-nothing I say! :) Haha, though I've owned both of these flowers before… They're just beautiful (especially hydrangeas).

A/N: Let me start off by saying that I in no way am much of a fan of Valentine's Day. I do, however, like all the beautiful flowers that appear during this time. :D Therefore, I hope you like this idea.

Amber sat at her vanity while brushing her hair and humming a song to herself. She sighed in resignation as she placed the brush down and stared at her reflection.

It was Valentine's Day. Most girls were going absolutely crazy over it, but she just couldn't bring herself to do so this year. She did like the idea behind the cards, the candy, and the flowers… But so often she felt overlooked when it came to this whole ordeal. She figured maybe she'd be the focus of _someone_ when she got older.

Smiling at this idea, she stood and made her way toward the door to her room, opening it and slipping into the hallway.

She gasped when James ran by with Zandar on his heels. "James!" she admonished, folding her arms. "I thought Baileywick said not to run through the castle with that ridiculous kite."

James huffed at his sister. "It's not a _ridiculous_ kite, Amber," he argued before grinning. "It's the most awesome kite _ever_. Right, Zandar?"

Zandar nodded with a grin. "Right! I've been waiting to see how it flies with the wind."

Amber raised an eyebrow at the boys. "You realize the wind is outside, right?"

"Yes," they both replied simultaneously, smiling mischievously.

"Look, whatever it is you two are thinking, forget it. Just go outside already before you hit a servant with that thing."

The boys shrugged at each other before running again, racing toward the entrance with zeal.

Amber sighed but smiled. She wished she could be that carefree sometimes, but running just wasn't her forte at all. She hummed again as she walked along, heading into the dining room. She smiled at the other classmates who happened to be there that day. Sofia sat next to Desmond and Vivian, all of whom were decorating various cards with an abundance of glitter and paint.

"Where'd the purple go?" Sofia asked as she looked between her friends.

"Here it is," Vivian said as she handed the vial to the other princess. "Desmond, do you still need that green?"

"Just for a few more minutes," he replied as he concentrated on what he was doing.

"What are you three up to?" Amber asked as she walked over to them.

Vivian and Sofia giggled with shrugs as Desmond smiled shyly but hunched over his project.

"We're making Valentine's Day cards," Sofia responded to the blonde girl. "Do you want to make one, Amber?"

"I don't think so… The last time I used glitter, I was finding it all over the place for months. I think there's still some stuck in my hair sometimes." She laughed.

Desmond smiled lightly. "Yeah…" He cleared his throat as the three girls looked at him. "I, uh, I mean… Yeah, I know what you mean. Glitter is…messy." He glanced down at his card, the image quite nice, if he did say so himself. Now he just needed to keep it a secret until that night… "I'll, uh… I'll see you girls later tonight. I wanted to catch up with James and Zandar." He hid the card in his arms as he rushed off, though the girls seemed undeterred.

Sofia held one of her cards up to Amber, and she grinned. "What do you think? I tried to make the cover look as much like Baileywick as possible."

Amber giggled. "Well…it doesn't look _bad_." She shrugged as Sofia rolled her eyes at her answer. "I just don't think Baileywick is _that_ tall, Sofia."

"Well, I'm not that good at proportions. Besides, why _is_ he so tall anyway? I almost didn't have room for his head!"

Vivian grinned and picked up Sofia's second card. "Yet notice she got Mr. Cedric pretty spot on."

Sofia giggled and nodded. "Well, I see him just about every day…"

Amber blinked and nodded in approval. "That card is actually _very_ good, Sofia." She smiled at her sister's beaming face. "I think Cedric will love it."

"You think so?" she asked in confirmation before nodding happily. "I hope so. I worked really hard on it. Besides, I know he likes things made from the heart instead of bought, so this should be a pretty good gift."

Vivian smiled and handed Amber a card. "We made one for you too!"

The older princess opened the card and giggled as she saw the girls' artwork within. It depicted Amber and her friends Hildegard and Clio, all smiling together. "Thanks, girls," she told them appreciatively. "It's very nice. Maybe you two should do some more art, huh?"

Sofia shrugged. "I'm really a lot better at magic." She grinned and pulled her wand from behind her back, waving it as she grinned. "How do you think the pictures in your card look so nice?" She nodded toward Vivian. "Vivian did the backgrounds and flowers by hand though. She actually worked hard for her compliment." She laughed.

The dark-haired girl laughed in return before looking toward Amber. "Where are Hildegard and Clio anyway?"

She sighed. "Off on an adventure to a play or something. I decided to stay here this year. I'm kind of tired after this whole long week."

"Tell me about it," Sofia agreed with a slight yawn. "Ms. Flora's tests always make me nervous. I'm glad we did all right." She smiled and stood up, pushing her chair back. "Well, I'll see you two later. I'm going to give this to Mr. Cedric before our party tonight." She picked up her mentor's card and blew away a few stray specks of glitter.

"It's not exactly a party, Sofia," Amber reminded her. "It's just a small get together."

"…That _you_ put together, so it's going to 'scream' party, Amber." Sofia grinned and waved as she ran off.

Amber shook her head and sat down next to Vivian. "So…do you have any gold glitter?"

Vivian smiled and held up the requested item. "Right here!"

Sofia hummed as she ascended the stairs to Cedric's workshop. She'd already seen him that morning, but once her friends had arrived, she'd left him to his routine until later. Well, now it _was_ later, and she had something special to give him.

She smiled and knocked on his door.

"Come in, Sofia," Cedric called, smirking as she entered. "Back so soon?"

"I had something important to finish," she informed her friend before climbing onto a chair and handing him the card. "Happy Valentine's Day, Mr. Cedric."

The sorcerer blinked and accepted the card. He chuckled at her drawing of him on the front. It was actually very good, and he admired the purple glitter on the drawing of his robe. He opened the card and swept his eyes over the words she'd written:

_Mr. Cedric,_

_Happy Valentine's Day! I know you don't really like this day much. Honestly, I'm in it for the candy._ (Cedric chuckled at this and shook his head.) _Ha! Just kidding. But I hope you have a great day anyway. Oh, and if you do happen to get any chocolate, you're more than welcome to share some with me—your favorite student ever._

_Love,_

_Sofia_

_PS—I apologize in advance if you have glitter on your hands for the rest of the year. :)_

Cedric couldn't help laughing at her ending and closed the card, placing it onto the table between them. "Thank you, Sofia. And fear not! No glitter is strong enough to withstand _my_ magic."

"Whatever you say, Mr. Cedric," she laughed.

"And I may not be the biggest fan of this overly saccharine holiday, but I did actually get something for you."

Her eyes widened in excitement. "You did?"

Cedric turned toward the stairs that led to the top of his tower and went up a few steps, grasping a pot that rested against the stone wall. He walked back toward the girl and placed it on the table before taking a pair of shears and snipping a few blooms off. He used his wand to tie them together and handed the mini bouquet to Sofia. "Here you are."

Sofia smiled softly as she accepted her gift. "You got me flowers?" She inhaled the scent of the purple and blue flowers and sighed in content.

"Not just any flowers—hydrangeas. They're a symbol of gratefulness, you know." He smiled as she looked up at him in surprise. "And I must say, I am quite grateful for the many things you've done for me. So Happy Valentine's Day to you as well, Sofia."

The young girl smiled brightly and held the small bouquet in one hand before jumping from the chair and running around the table to hug him in excitement. "You're the best ever, Mr. Cedric!"

He laughed and returned her hug gently. "I'm glad you think so." He playfully ruffled her hair, his spirits soaring for a change.

Sofia grinned up at him before looking toward Wormwood, who rolled his eyes. "Did you get Wormwood anything?"

"Well, I attempted to give him a new scarf, but he gave me quite a perturbed look, so I suppose his 'gift' will be the peace and quiet of the tower once I leave to meet my mother and father for dinner later."

The princess beamed. "You're having dinner with your parents? Aw, that's great, Mr. Cedric. Does that mean you and your dad are getting along better?"

"Much," he responded with a nod. He looked out the window and noticed the sun was on the cusp of setting. "In fact, I had better get a head start now before it's too late. I trust you'll have a good time tonight."

She nodded in affirmation. "Amber has everything planned. I hope you have a good time. Tell your parents hi for me." With another hug, she picked up her hydrangeas and skipped out of the workshop.

Cedric smiled with a small hum as he looked toward his card again. He laughed aloud as he looked toward his companion. "Look, Wormy, she even put you on here." He held the card up to his raven so he could see.

Wormwood blinked as he saw that Sofia had drawn quite a nice likeness of him. He felt himself beginning to smile. "Hmm. Nice to get some proper recognition anyway…"

"Let it out a little more!" James called to Zandar as he was running underneath the kite. Zandar was in charge of the string, which was now soaring into the sky.

"I think that's as far as it will go, James," Zandar replied with a grunt as he attempted to keep the string from loosening further. He looked to his right as Desmond appeared with them. "Hey, Desmond. Where have you been?"

"Inside, finishing…something."

James smirked as he hurried over to them. "So, Des, did you get Amber's _gift_ yet?" He loved picking on his friend about his _obvious_ infatuation with his sister.

"I made her a card," the smaller boy said with a blink.

"Not _that_ gift! The other one." He nodded toward the garden, where apparently something was supposed to be.

Desmond blushed at the other prince's forwardness. "I—I can't get her _flowers_, James. That's like a grownup gift or something."

Zandar laughed. "That's silly, Desmond. Flowers are for everyone." He shrugged as James laughed. "What?"

"Don't be scared, Desmond," James encouraged as he walked behind the boy and pushed him toward the garden. "Besides, Amber _loves_ roses."

Desmond nodded hesitantly. "O-Okay…" He walked toward the garden, a sense of renewal washing over him.

"He's hopeless," Zandar informed his best friend with a shake of his head. "Completely…"

James grinned. "We can let the string go a little more now, right?" He ripped the string from Zandar's hands and took off running in the other direction.

Zandar gasped. "James!"

Later that night, the six students were gathered together to exchange cards and play games. They were having a great time when Desmond whispered something to Sofia, who nodded with a grin.

"Oh, Amber?" she asked sweetly, seeing that she had her sister's attention. "I think I saw another gift for you hanging on your door to your room earlier."

She blinked. "Really?" She stood and dusted her dress before smiling. "Okay then! I'll be right back." She hurried off, squealing about the possibility of another unicorn.

Vivian raised an eyebrow at the blonde girl's words. "She doesn't actually think a unicorn would be in a bag hanging from her door, does she?"

James nodded seriously. "Oh, yes, she does." He smirked toward Desmond. "Ever since _Jonathan_, your mini unicorn experiment…"

The other boy blushed again before clearing his throat and standing up. "I'll be right back, you guys." He left from the room, turning in the same direction Amber had gone.

Zandar shook his head. "So, can we get back to the game?"

Sofia nodded and passed a card to Vivian. "Your turn."

Amber reached her room and smiled fondly at the golden bag hanging from her door. She took it from the doorknob and reached inside, pulling out the card he'd been working on earlier, one with a very nice replica of her on the front. She blinked as she read it.

_Dear Amber,_

_Flowers are really fragile but very beautiful. It takes a lot to care for flowers properly. But the best of the flowers, the roses, are always worth the effort. When you think about it, lots of things are like that… Hope you like these._

_Desmond_

"Desmond?" she asked softly in surprise as she reached into the bag farther and pulled out three roses tied together with a gold bow.

"I know how much you like gold," Desmond told the girl as he approached her, making her gasp.

"Y-You did this for me?" she asked in awe, eyes wider as he nodded shyly. She slowly smiled as her face took on a knowing expression. "Oh, Desmond…so sweet."

He blushed brightly. "M-Me, sweet?" He laughed a little nervously as she walked toward him. "Th-Thanks, Amber."

The princess smiled and took his hand, pulling him toward her room and opening the door. "Wait here." She walked over to her bed and reached behind her pillow, extracting something and hiding it behind her back as she walked over toward her friend. "What I'm about to show you is something you must keep a secret. Promise?"

He nodded in curiosity and watched as she handed him a small package. Getting the affirmative from the girl, he slowly opened the package and smiled fondly. In his hand he held a bottle that had a replica lightning strike inside, reminiscent of the project they'd originally planned to do last year. He looked up at her. "I thought you forgot about that."

"It's hard to forget something as interesting as Lightning in a Bottle," she teased with a smile. "Do you like it?"

"Y-Yes, thank you so much, Amber." Feeling rather happy, he reached toward her and hugged her gently, making the princess stiffen slightly. He eased back, worried. "I, uh…that was too much, wasn't it?"

Amber smiled gently. "No… No, I can do hugs. You just took me by surprise." She initiated a hug this time, more slowly so they could both be comfortable. "And you're welcome." She then grinned as they separated. "Now we'd better head back to the party, or they'll probably send a search party."

Desmond laughed as Amber grabbed his hand and led him along. He smiled. Roses and lightning… Who knew the two could mesh so well together?

The end

A/N: Yay! My first _ever_ (and probably last) Valentine's story! I hope you all liked it. I tried to keep it as low on the "mushy" stuff as I could. I don't really see this as being a romance either—more like a friendship that may be blossoming (see what I did there? ;D) into something more as they get older. Who knows? I'm still all for Amber/Desmond, but we'll see what happens. If nothing else, they're adorable as friends too. :) And I _love_ hydrangeas, by the way… I want a whole garden full of them…and a chocolate fountain in the center! :D Okay, I'm hungry now. I'm off to find a Reese's or Crunch Bar. Lol. Have a good day! ~AquaTurquoise


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